


Vengeance

by StrawberryAeris



Category: Hollow Knight (Video Games), Hollow Knight Silksong (Video Games)
Genre: Arachnophobia AU, Desperation, Gen, Hyperventilation, Illnesses, Imprisonment, Medicine, Nursing, Revenge, Sickfic, Slavery, Starvation mentions, Stomach Ache, This one's a little gross I apologize :(, Violent Thoughts, Vomiting, Wanting Revenge, kind of but just a warning, planning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-24 18:40:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30076611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StrawberryAeris/pseuds/StrawberryAeris
Summary: A prequel to "A Dreadful Calling," which is now a part of an AU I've been thinking of recently (which is more than likely gonna change a lot whenever Silksong releases.)Hornet gets captured by the Bell Cult and gets thrown in with the rest of the imprisoned Weavers, who notice that their princess is also happened to get very sick. They all nurse her to health, but also rely on her to think of a plan to escape their prison.
Kudos: 9





	Vengeance

“OPEN THE DOOR!” Hornet shrieked as she pounded the metal door with her fists.

The Weavers started to stare and huddled far, but around the commotion that was going on. They were all worried and concerned for the small spider, for she sounded desperate and maybe even scared. She didn’t have her needle, her captors took it from her, and she was having none of this.

Hornet continued to slam her fists against the door, “LET ME OUT! **_LET ME OUT!_ ** _”_

She then tried to claw at the door, then used any leftover daggers she had in her pockets. She did manage to do some damage to the door, but it wasn’t much. But to her, it was. She then thrusted herself at it, creating a small dent. The cultists backed up as they heard her do so. They were hesitant to leave the door unguarded even if it was locked, but they had her needle, so they assumed she would be useless without it. As they heard her voice and banging die down, they headed off.

Hornet, tired and with her shoulder now bruised, took one more slam of her fist against the door, “Fucking bastards…”

She slid down and curled up on the floor, trying her damndest not to cry. She hated this. She hated _all_ of this. She knew she couldn’t escape without her needle. She didn’t know what to do. Her shoulder ached as it pressed against the floor, sending her whole body to ache. Her shaky breathing turned into hyperventilating, and her skin couldn’t decide if the air was hot or cold. She clutched the rest of her arm to her stomach as it kept sucking itself in and out. She felt like a child, a very sick child. She didn’t know why all of a sudden she felt like this. She hated it.

One of the Weavers couldn’t help but approach the little spider. Though, they were a little worried that them helping her would hurt her more, but they didn’t want to just leave her there either. “Pr...Princess?” they spoke softly to her.

Hornet slowly glanced over to the Weaver as she tried to slow down her breathing. She saw more of their kind pop out of the darkness, concerned of her state. Though her breathing settled, she felt stomach clenched as something came up to her throat. She immediately covered her mouth with hands and held in whatever she had coming up into her mouth. The Weaver quickly ran towards her and knelt down to then rub her back.

“It’s ok, princess, I got you,” they said to her, “You can let it out, it’s ok.”

Hornet didn’t listen to this, however. She kept her hands to her mouth, her eyes shut tight. The taste in her mouth was dreadful and it made her body shiver. She would let it out as the Weaver told her, but refused to. The Weaver then saw her hunch over a tiny bit and muffle. They thought she was gonna let it out, but they then instead heard her swallow it back down in one big gulp.

With instant regret, Hornet started coughing and gagging. The Weaver picked her up and fiddled with her cloak so she could get some warmth. They looked back at the others as they approached them. "What are we going to do?" one of them asked.

"We should get her to a comfortable spot, she's getting ill," the Weaver answered. They all then stormed back into the darkness with the new prisoner.

* * *

"How long has she been sleeping for?"

"Quite a while."

"Just let her rest, she needs it."

"Could you watch over her? I want to make her some medication while she rests."

"Fine."

She heard this discussion the Weavers were having, but she didn't know exactly as to what she was hearing. She tried to open her eyes, but she only managed to open them slightly. Though her vision was blurry, she could see another Weaver tilt his head at her.

"Well you're...sort of waking up," she heard him say.

She didn't respond. She _couldn’t_ respond. She shut her eyes again and fell back asleep. “Oh uh…alright then,” the Weaver spoke. Knowing that he was gonna be there for a while, he started to look around the room to find something to do.

Time went by, and Hornet started to wake up again. She saw the Weaver faced away from her, sitting on the side of what she assumed was a bed, a little far where she laid. It felt a little hard to be considered a bed, though. She wanted to get up, but when she moved just a tad bit, pain struck her entire body. She groaned, which caught the Weaver’s attention.

He only turned his head towards her, then turned back and proceeded to fix another Weaver’s cloak. “You finally awake, kid?” He asked her.

“Who are you?” Hornet managed to mutter out. From where she was, she tried to investigate him: He wore a dark blue-ish indigo cloak with a hood over his head. He did look taller than her if he were to stand. He glanced back at her slightly, then back again, “Sebastian.”

“Am I going to die, Sebastian?” She asked him softly. Sebastian barked out a laugh, “No you’re not gonna die. You’re just sick, is all.”

Sick? What did she have that got her sick? She knew she was a little sluggish earlier, but not necessarily sick. She survived a plague back at her old kingdom, how on Earth did she get sick now?

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only one who felt sick when getting thrown in here. Many of us felt like that actually. We get locked in here, get mad, maybe have a breakdown, and possibly puke our guts out.”

“I didn’t do that, did I?” Hornet said, a little worried.

“Well, you sure were pissed. But you didn’t like, puke your guts out or anything. You were hyperventilating, then you looked like you were gonna throw up, but then you swallowed it back down. We investigated your body, you know, listening to your heartbeat and checking your temp., and your organs are still there and are still functioning correctly. So no, you didn’t.”

“Oh,” Hornet remembered, “I do hyperventilate sometimes. I don’t know why. I probably got it from my dad. But I rarely feel nauseous though.”

“Ah I bet so. We don’t blame you though. The atmosphere and food they give us here are atrocious. Those guys outside, the ones blinded by their cloths, look far more juicy than what the bastards give us.”

Hornet let out a sickly hum, then slowly sat up. Her stomach ached like hell, but the bruise on her shoulder is slightly better. Not great, but better.

“How are ya feeling, kid?” Sebastian decided to ask.

Hornet took a moment to think: What word would describe her current state right now? Horrible? Terrible? Gross? Awful? Dreadful?

“Drunk.”

Sebastian barked out in laughter again, “Really now? Yeah, that makes sense actually!”

Hornet thought to herself: Was that seriously the best thing she could think of? Drunk? It was close enough, but she still felt like it was dumb.

“No offense, kid, but you kinda do look like you’re drunk,” Sebastian giggled.

“I’m not drunk!” Hornet stated as she hid her face into her legs, “Just in pain.” She whimpered at the stomach pain she felt as she heard it growl in agony.

“Just hang in there, kid. The medication should be coming here soon.”

Hornet was curious as to what Sebastian was working on. She looked down at herself, now noticing her cloak was gone. She decided to take the blanket that covered her with her as she shuffled way to Sebastian. She wrapped the blanket around her body and sat next to him.

She then saw his face and his arms. He was a typical Weaver, of course, but his face had a large crack going across his second left eye. His first set of arms, however, were surreal. His arms were long, lanky, and hairy. The second set of arms were perfectly fine however. Three of his arms held the cloak he had while his last deformed one roughly held the needle and thread.

“What happened to your arms?” Hornet asked, “If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Hm? Oh, I was born like this. I know, my mother was just as concerned as you when I hatched. She really tried to fix them, but of course there wasn’t a solution. They don’t bother me, hurt me, nor stop me from doing anything, though. Quite fond of them, actually. I don’t get why some parents look at their children and immediately try and fix them if they even have the slightest thing that’s considered ‘wrong’ with them. Most of the time, they may have something abnormal about them, but nothing really wrong with them.”

Hornet nodded. She remembered her father’s actions towards her. He didn’t necessarily try to fix her, hell he barely had time for her. But when he left her on her own while still young and saying she’ll because she was a ‘beast’ felt a little similar. He knew she was a hybrid and she didn’t look like one or the other, but he didn’t even try to ‘fix’ her or anything. He just left her entirely, not wanting to deal with her at all. She knew he just wanted to flee and hide from his kingdom. She knew he was overwhelmed. But why would he just leave his own children to rot, especially her? Were they really that bad?

“I see. I feel like my father barely liked me because of my form. Probably didn’t like me period.”

Sebastian let out a slightly aggressive hum, “Not surprising coming from him, there was always something wrong with _him_ , however.”

“So you remember him?”

“Oh yeah, ever since your mother announced that you were born. I was still a youngling back then, too. It was the only good thing we believed he did, granting you. We were so happy for you and your mother. I know she’s been dreaming, but how is she, if you mind me asking?”

“She isn’t dreaming anymore. Nor awake.”

Sebastian paused and fell silent. Herrah, their queen, the only they looked up to, was gone. She wasn’t gonna come back, ever. They had a feeling she wasn’t going to wake up, but they still had hope she would. But no. She can’t.

They both heard some Weavers enter the scene with one of them having some medicine and food in their hands. Hornet reacted a little too quickly, however, which made her pain struck through her entire body. She hunched over and grunted.

Sebastian put down his work, “Alright, kid, you need to lay down.” He then gently guided her back to where she slept.

“Oh thank goodness, she’s awake,” A Weaver spoke. She slowly approached Hornet to hand over the tray with the medicine and food. Hornet just stared at it for a bit: The medicine was in a small bowl while the food was a small portion of sliced moss bug meat.

“This is the best we can do at the moment,” the Weaver exclaimed to Hornet.

“Thank you,” Hornet said softly. She then pulled the tray closer to her.

Sebastian lightly tapped the Weaver’s shoulder as she backed up, “Vesta, the cloak’s finished,” he said to her.

Sebastian and Vesta. Hornet was learning names. Will she ever need to even remember them? She wasn’t so sure.

“Oh thank you, Sebastian,” Vesta said as she took the repaired cloak from him, “I’ll return this right away. Is the princess alright?”

Sebastian looked back at Hornet, who wasn’t really doing much, then back at Vesta. “Still a little sluggish, but she’s been doing alright.”

“I’m still in shock, how on Earth did she end up here?” Vesta questioned.

“Must’ve been the bastards outside that brought her all the way here. Those guys know Hallownest was an excellent place to fetch spiders. I’m sure she was the best target and source for them to use-”

They then were interrupted by Hornet coughing behind them. They realized she took a sip of the medicine. Hornet was never really fond of taking medicine, or at least when it’s liquid medicine. It always tasted disgusting to her, both as a child and as a grown woman. She knew it wasn’t supposed to taste good and it was supposed to heal you, but regardless she still hated it.

“Oh dear,” Vesta spoke.

Sebastian chuckled, “Don’t like the medicine, kid?”

“Shut up,” Hornet replied as she proceeded to cough. 

* * *

A few days have gone by, and Hornet was feeling better mentally, but not emotionally. She was still held in the chamber. There were probably so many advantages for her to escape, but her being sick and glued down to her resting hole really held her down. Though in that state, she still witnessed what the Weavers had to go through whilst in this prison.

Many of the cultists kept coming in and out of the chamber to retrieve a Weaver or two and throw them back in later if they were alive enough. In and out. In and out. They would come in and demand that they bring Hornet to them. The Weavers would refuse, and the cultists would take them instead. Sebastian would watch guard as Hornet rested in their hiding spot. Some Weavers would fight and struggle for freedom as the cultists took them while some would accept their fate if that were the case. Hornet would hear the screams, hissing, and cries coming from the Weavers as they were being dragged out by force from the chain leashes around their necks. She knew what the cultists wanted. She knew what they were doing. She had to get out of here. They _all_ had to get out of here.

Hornet stood up from her resting spot and grabbed her somewhat cleansed cloak to put on. Sebastian waited for her by the opening, and she approached him. “You ready?” he asked her.

Hornet nodded and they both exited out of the room. They climbed and went upwards so Hornet could see the rest of the Weavers and how miserable they all were. Though Hornet was glad that she was feeling better, she really wasn’t so sure if she wanted to see her clutter in misery.

Once they reached to the rest of the tribe, Hornet observed them as Sebastian guided her. As they continued to walk through them, Hornet looked over to her right and saw some of the Weavers resting, one clawing the ground, and a few clawing the walls and howling at it. She then looked over to her left and saw a few more that were wounded and groaning as they were being nursed by their tribe mates. She saw a few more Weavers tear and feasted on some prey in which they shared, some were fiddling with silk, and a few Weavers crying in the back.

“We weren’t made to be used as tools and to be thrown into a box, kid,” Sebastian spoke, “Look what it has done to us. We’re all exhausted, drained, and rotting. Always coming to extinction but then having to breed to keep our species alive. It’s hell, really. We always question as to why us and not any other beast out there.”

Hornet didn’t respond, but she started to see that Weavers were starting to stare at her, now noticing she was up, walking, and within their presence. She started to get a little paranoid, but tried her best to ignore it and kept following and listening to Sebastian.

They approached a resting spot to sit on and they both sat down. Sebastian sighed and planted his face into his wrists while Hornet turned her gaze away from him. “Gods, I just want to leave this place. This kingdom is absolute hell. I absolutely hate everyone that runs this place,” Sebastian continued.

“We didn’t even do anything wrong! We were just trying to survive!” a Weaver decided to add. “It’s our nature! We need to eat! We need to live!” Another added.

The Weavers started to speak after one and another, “And those bugs think we’re the dangerous ones! Using us for silk, draining us, imprisoning us, and even killing us for their own personal gain! That isn’t even a part of their nature! It _shouldn’t_ be a part of their nature!”

“They aren’t even bugs! They’re frauds!”

“Heathens!”

“Scoundrels!”

**“** ** _Beasts!_ ** **”**

Some of the Weavers gasped. “They call us ‘beasts’ when it should be them!” Thus, the Weavers started to chirp and bark in agreement.

Sebastian took his face off of his wrists and looked over at Hornet, who was still facing away from him. He tried to read her body language for a second. She has been awfully quiet since they left her hiding spot.

“...You want to kill them...don’t you?” he asked her.

Hornet stood silent, but then started to shiver and clenched her fists lightly.

“Yes,” she finally spoke in her shaky voice, “I want to kill them.” She then turned to Sebastian’s gaze as her eyes built water in them, “I want to kill them _all!_ ”

Sebastian nodded, “You know the rulers, right? And one of them is the king? I heard he’s more afraid of us than he is of hating us.”

Hornet took note to this, knowing it’ll come in handy. “How do we take them down?” she asked.

“We do have ideas, but I’m not sure if any of them would work. But...since you’re here…”

Hornet wasn’t sure if she liked where this was going. The Weavers gave their attention back to her as Sebastian continued, “We want to help you, kid. To get your strength back, to leave this kingdom alive. But can you lead us? It’s your turn now anyway.”

Hornet stared at the Weavers, realizing since that her mother isn’t here anymore, it was her turn to be queen, to lead the tribe. She looked down, it was really something she thought would never happen, at least not so quickly. She wasn’t really ready for it at all. It was a little scary to her, but what else is she supposed to do?

She stood up, “Alright. We need to think of a plan.” She noticed a pile of rocks and approached them so she could stand upon them. The Weavers kept their eyes on her as she stood amongst them all. “Do we have any ideas?” she asked them.

“I’d say we attack and kill everyone in the kingdom. Therefore, there’ll be plenty of food for all of us, and there wouldn’t be any witnesses!” a Weaver spoke.

“N-No, I don’t-”

“That would also mean that there’ll also be enough food for our offspring. We could give their offspring to ours to feast upon!” another Weaver added.

“We’ll have food for months! Maybe years!”

“ _Listen!_ ” Hornet raised her voice. They all fell silent and gave their attention back to her. “We’re not just gonna kill an entire kingdom just because we’re mad and starving. We’re not savages. Plus, there’s plenty of citizens that are innocent. Trust me, I’ve seen. I’ve met and made friends that can maybe help us.” She took a quick pause to take a breath as she brought her hands to her face, index fingers up and touching, “We only attack the ones clothed in white and gold. The ones shielded by their cloths and their rulers.”

They all fell silent for a moment, until Hornet broke it, “I know you all are hungry, and the king is more afraid of us, correct?”

“Yes,” Sebastian said while some Weavers nodded. 

“We’ll save him for last, just so he wouldn’t have anyone to help him. But, I’ll take care of him myself. You all can feast upon his followers and knights. I’ll see what we can do to the king’s relatives and what they hide up at the Citadel. Therefore, once they all have been killed, and whatever curse they put upon this kingdom has been stopped, we can all be free,” Hornet explained.

The Weavers started to nod and agree with her plan, and started to cheer on. “And with that, we’ll have our vengeance, and we won’t starve!” a Weaver pointed out.

“For freedom!” another yelled. “For freedom!” They all decided to cheer in repeat.

Sebastian looked back at Hornet, “Not bad, kid. Not bad.”

Hornet gave him a small smirk before looking up to see a locked gate with light beaming on her ever so slightly. She knew the cultists were above them, but weren’t present. She thought to herself: They better enjoy themselves now, because they were about to meet their fate. Terrible, horrific deaths. It didn’t really sound all that pleasant to her in her head. It wasn’t really something she would do or even think of, but after all she went through ever since she was brought to Pharloom, she didn’t care too much.

She kept looking at the gate and kept listening to the Weavers as they cheered and made noise. Their cheers gave her more hope and motivation to agree with her own plan.

Though her thoughts grew darker, her smirk grew wider.


End file.
